Thread throwing machine and the like



Oct. 24, 1939. J HQUQK THREAD THROWING MACHINE AND THE LIKE Filed March 10, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet l Qwuqmton Oct. 24,1939. J, Q oucK 2,177,039

THREAD THROWING MACHINE AND THE LIKE Filed March 10, 1957 s Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Oct. 24, 1939 PATIENT OFFICE THREAD THROWING MACHINE AND THE LIK John 'C. Houck, Scranton, Pa.

Application March 10, 1937, Serial No. 130,175

12 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in thread throwing machines and although applicable to other arts is especially useful in the art of throwing silk.,

Briefly stated, the invention has for a primary I object to provide in a doubler-twister, or other thread throwing machine, a novel thread feeding means in lieu of the conventional feed roll or feed rolls, the nature of such feeding means 1 being such that it will prevent slippage of the thread, whereby more rapid thread feed, and consequent increase in thread twist, is obtained than heretofore.

Additionally, the invention contemplates, in apparatus as characterized, an improved thread feeding means which will be readily applicable be found in the provision of a novel shield or guard for a feeding means drive shaft and in the mounting thereof.

The invention also resides in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of the various parts, including a novel feed means stand; and also in methods and modes of operation thereof.

One mechanical expression of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. However, it will be obvious that same may be considerably modified without the spirit and scope of the subject matter claimed hereinafter. In the drawings, wherein like parts are designated by the same reference characters all views- Figure 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a familiar type of doubler-twister machine illustrating the application of my invention thereto;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 22 of Figure 1, and illustrating my novel thread feeding means and stand in plan;

Figure 3 is a front elevational view of my thread feeding means, and illustrating a portion of the stop rod, and a portion of the pipe rails and associated covering shield for the feed means drive shaft;

Figure 4 is a transverse vertical sectional view through the device shown in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a side elevational view of the thread feeding means and its stand, the pipe rails, feed means drive shaft, and the drive shaft shield being shown in cross-section;

Referring specifically to the drawings by reference characters, numeral l denotes one end of the frame of a doubler-twister machine having the usual pin rail girt 2, pin rails 3, bobbinsupporting pins" 4, and stop motion girt 5, to which latter the lower ends of the pin rails 3 are attached. A series of bobbins 6 is carried by the pins 4 of the illustrated pin rail 3 for threads 60, to the doubling and twisting unit shown in Fig. 1.

It is to be understood that the illustrated machine comprehends the usual complimentary arrangement of doubling and twisting units arranged in series at opposite sides of the machine. However, since the present invention concerns only the feeding of the thread, the illustration of the machine has been restricted and only so much of it illustrated as is deemed necessary for a full appreciation of the improved feeding means and associated parts.

The conventional stop motion 1 has the stand la. secured to stop motion girt 5 and incorporates the usual drop wires providing the eyes lb through which the individual threads Go from bobbins 6 pass. The several threads 6a are gathered together by the eye 8a on the stop motion rod 8 and are delivered to my novel feed means, which includes the stand and feed wheel 26. From thence the doubled thread 611 passes to the traveler 2| of the spinning ring Zii, which is disposed about cop quill or the like IS on the'spindle I6, which is journalled in bearing 16a on the fixed shelf or frame member [5. Spindle I6 is driven as usual by belt l'l passed about vertically journalled pulleys Ila, one of which is illustrated in Fig. 1. When the stop rod 8 is actuated upwardly, due to breakage of one of the threads 6a, the conventional connection 8x, l'lc operates the usual roller 11b to move belt I! out of driving engagement with spindle portion lfib.

The usual pipe rails 9, clamps l0, bolts and nuts ll, [2 are illustrated and same support the usual feed means drive shaft [3 (Fig. 4) which has fast thereon a drive gear M for each thread feeding unit. Shaft I3 is driven as usual by belt |3b trained about pulley |3a.

The vertically traversing ring rail l9 having the upstanding threaded rod 22 providing threaded engagement with ring 20, andincorporating the ratchet 23 to be engaged by the pawl 24 on stop rod 8 for progressively advancing the ring 20 relatively of rail I9, is fully illustrated, described and claimed in my co-pending application Serial No. 104,724, filed October 8, 1936.

Coming now to the novel feeding means which is the subject of the present invention, the stand 25 heretofore mentioned, comprises an elongated casing open at one side and having the upwardly and rearwardly extending bracket arm 25a which is laterally turned to provide the bearing 25b Which is disposed beyond the plane of the open side of the stand and receives the stop rod 8. A clamp bolt 2'! extending through bearing 25b maintains stand 25 in operative position on stop rod 8. 7 I

The stand 25 provides, at its open side, the arcuate flange portion 25d which overlies, the inwardly flared peripheral portion of the innermost section 26:; of the thread feeding wheel 26, as shown inFig. 4. This affords asubstantial measure of protection to the fingersrof a careless attendant.

As best shown in Fig. 4, the feed wheel 26 comprises complimentary sections 26a providing spaced laterally inclined arms 26b of angular form. As shown, the arms 26b of. the respective Wheel sections 26a, are inclinedin opposite directions, and the angular inner portions ofsuch arms of one section 26a are received in cut-outs or openings 260 of the. companion section, The arms 2612 provide the thread receiving groove of wheel 26 and since the inner thread supporting portions thereof are staggered the thread Sal will lie in tortuous or zig-zag fashion. This promotes friction and results in a substantially nonslip drive of the thread 60. In fact, the described feed wheel construction enables me to dispense with the carrying of the thread entirely about the Wheel 26. Experience has shown that when the thread is carried. entirely about the wheel 26 there is a tendency for itto clog and 'jam. This necessitates stopping of the machine, and cutting the thread clog out of the wheel.

In order to avoid passing the thread entirely about the wheel 26, I, provide the idler pulleys 35, 3|, which as shown in Fig. 5, are disposed siderable advantage.

above wheel 26 and in plane therewith. Pulleys 3| 3| have headed pintles, 30a, 3|a, respectively, which are adjustably held in the slot, 28a of the arcuate arm 28 whose inner end is secured in the boss 250 of the inner surface of arm 25a by means a of the clamp bolt 29. Inasmuch as the arm 28 is arcuate, the adjustment of same in the boss becoming caught or jammed between the arms 25b of wheel 25 and being carried round and round, unless the idler pulleys 30, 3| are sumciently spaced from one another.

-'Ihe mounting of feed wheel 26 is best shown ,drive shaft |i3 and its g'ears"|4', as

in Fig. 4 wherein the stand 25 is illustrated as providing the stub shaft 33, which is fixedly carried in the boss 33a. of the side wall. Journalled upon shaft 33 is the sleeve 34 having the wood or other oil-less bushing 34a. A drive gear 35 is fast on the reduced inner end 35a of sleeve 34, while the feed wheel 26 is carried in the groove 36 at the opposite end of the enlarged portion of such sleeve 34. It will be understood that the outer wall portion 360. is swagged snugly against the outer face of the hub portion of the outer section 26a of the wheel after the same has been assembled in place. Of course, the wheelv may be secured in other ways, the only essential being that it shall be tightly held to turn with the sleeve 34..

A bolt 31 engaging in a tapped hole in the outer end of shaft 33 and bearing against a washer 31a, holds the sleeve and shaft 34, 33

A gear 39 having constant mesh with gear 35 is journalled on shaft 38 of stand boss 38a, and

is adapted when rod 8 is held down by stopmo tion 1,.to mesh with thesubjacent gear M "of drive shaft I3, as indicated in Figs. 4 and 5. However, :when one of the threads'fia breaks,rthe stop motion 1 releases rod-8 for upward movement and stand 25 is raised to disengage gear 39 from drive shaft gear I4 to stopwheel'26.

The novel shield or guard 4|- for the drive shaft |3 has its lower end bent inwardly, as indicatedat 4|b, to rest upon one of the pipe rails 9 below the clamp members H1. The upper edge of the shield or guard 4| is curled over the shaft |3, as indicated at Me. In order thatthe exposed frontal portion of gear l4 shall be covered when stand 25 is raised, I provide the tongue 4|a (Fig. 5)twhich lies against the inner surface of the stand portion 251:. This tongue, portion provides the cut-out or opening in shield 4 I through which a portion of the'gear l4 extends as shown in Fig. 5. Shield 4| may be of sheet metal and provides a very simple, inexpensive and satisfactory guard for the exposed frontal part of v required by the law of most States. r VT Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate the'lower portion of the open side of the stand 25fbelowthe wheel 26, as closed by the plate 42 which may bese cured by screws 43 engaging in tapped bosses 44 carried by the front and rear walls of the stand.

In the event that the thread guard pulleys 30, 3|, should not be properly adjusted and the The eye 32 is carriedby the thread 6a. should be caught in the wheel 26 and carried round and round, I'provide, as shown in Fig. 5, the radial slot 4|] which extends inwardly from the periphery of the wheel 26. It is a-sim ple matter to insert a knife in slot 40 for the purpose of cutting the' banked up" layers" of thread. V l As will be evident to those skilled in the art, it is a simple matter 'to' install my novelstand 25 on the stop rods of machines; and the same is true as to my novel guard member 4|. The arrangement of the bracket arm 25, 25b enables the stand to be brought very close to the stop rod 8. This projects the stop rod 8 to a minimum of strain, and also positions the wheel 26, so that its periphery will be substantially aligned with eye 32 and the axis of spindle IS.

The operation of the device will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the foregoing description in connection with the accompanying drawings; and it is to be understood, as heretofore mentioned, that various changes may be made in the illustrated embodiment without departure from the invention, as claimed. For instance, the stand 25 may be carried then by a stop rod; and it is not essential that members 39, 3! be rotatable.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is:

1. In a thread throwing machine, a stop rodcarried thread feeding means comprising a stand, a rotatable thread feeding wheel, stand-carried thread guide means comprising spaced portions spaced from the periphery of the wheel and in plane therewith above its axis, said thread guide means turning thread about less than the entire circumference of said wheel, one guide means portion being adapted to deliver thethread from a source of supply to one portion of the wheel periphery, the other guide means portion being adapted to receive the thread from another peripheral portion of the wheel which is less than three hundred and sixty degrees removed from the first-mentioned peripheral portion and to deliver such thread downwardly to spinning means below the plane of said wheel, and drive means for said wheel.

2. In a thread throwing machine, a stop rodcarried thread feeding means comprising a stand, a rotatable thread feeding wheel, stand-carried thread guide means comprising spaced portions spaced from the periphery of the wheel and in plane therewith above its axis, said thread guide means turning thread about less than the entire circumference of said wheel, one guide means portion being adapted to deliver the thread from a source of supply to one portion of the wheel periphery, the other guide means portion being adapted to receive the thread from another peripheral portion of the Wheel which is less than three hundred and sixty degrees removed from the first-mentioned peripheral portion and to deliver such thread downwardly to spinning means below the plane of said wheel, drive means for said wheel, and means for adjusting said guide means portions toward and away from one another.

3. In a thread throwing machine, a stop rodcarried thread feeding means comprising a stand,

' a rotatable thread feeding means, stand-carried thread guide means comprising spaced portions spaced from the periphery of the rotatable thread feeding means and in plane therewith above its axis, said thread guide means turning thread about less than the entire circumference of said feeding means, one guide means portion being adapted to deliver the thread from a source of supply to one portion of the rotatable thread feeding means periphery, the other guide means portion being adapted to receive the thread from another peripheral portion of the rotatable thread feeding means which is less than three hundred and sixty degrees removed from the first-mentioned peripheral portion and to deliver such thread downwardly to spinning means which is below the plane of said feeding means, and drive means for said rotatable thread feeding means.

4. In a thread throwing machine, a stop rodcarried thread feeding means comprising a stand, a rotatable thread feeding means, stand-carried thread guide means comprising spaced portions spaced from the periphery of the rotatable thread feeding means and in plane therewith above its axis, said thread guide means turning thread about less than the entire circumference of said feeding means, one guide means portion being adapted to deliver the thread from a source of supply to one portion of the rotatable thread feeding means periphery, the other guide means portion being adapted to receive the thread from another peripheral portion of the rotatable thread feeding means which is less than three hundred and sixty degrees removed from the first-mentioned peripheral portion and to deliver such thread downwardly to spinning means which is below the plane of said feeding means, drive means for said rotatable thread feeding means, and means for adjusting said guide means portions toward and away from one another.

5. In a thread throwing machine, thread feeding means comprising a stand, a rotatable thread feeding means, stand-carried thread guide means comprising spaced portions spaced from the periphery of the rotatable thread feeding means and in plane therewith above its axis, said thread guide means turning thread about less than the entire circumference of said feeding means, one guide means portion being adapted to deliver the thread from a source of supply to one portion of the rotatable thread feeding means periphery, the other guide means portion being adapted to receive the thread from another peripheral portion of the rotatable thread feeding means which is less than three hundred and sixty degrees removed from the first-mentioned peripheral portion and to deliver such thread downwardly to spinning means which is below the plane of said feeding means, and drive means for said rotatable thread feeding means.

6. In a thread throwing machine, a thread feeding means comprising a stand, a rotatable thread feeding means, stand-carried thread guide means comprising spaced portions spaced from the periphery of the rotatable thread feeding means and in plane therewith above its axis, said thread guide means turning thread about less than the entire circumference of said feeding means, one guide means portion being adapted to deliver the thread from a source of supply to one portion of the rotatable thread feeding means periphery, the other guide means portion being adapted to receive the thread from another peripheral portion of the rotatable thread feeding means which is less than three hundred and sixty degrees removed from the first-mentioned peripheral portion and to deliver such thread downwardly to spinning means, drive means for said rotatable thread feeding means which is below the plane of said feeding means, and means for adjusting said guide means.

'7. In a thread throwing machine, a stop rodcarried thread feeding means comprising a stand, a rotatable thread feeding means, stand-carried thread guide means comprising spaced portions spaced from the periphery of the rotatable thread feeding means and in plane therewith, one guide means portion being adapted to deliver the thread from a source of supply to one portion of the rotatable thread feeding means periphery, the other guide means portion being adapted to receive the thread from another peripheral portion of the rotatable thread feeding means which is less than three hundred and sixty degrees removed from the first-mentioned peripheral portion and to deliver such thread to spinning means, an upwardly extending bracket member carried by said stand and having a support-engaging portion, an arm carried by said bracket and disposed in a plane above said rotatable thread feeding means, and said guide means portions adjustably carried by said arm for movement toward and away from one another in the plane of said rotatable thread feeding means.

8. The combination set forth in claim 1 and said arm being curved in substantially the arc of said rotatable thread feeding means, saidarm having a slot therein, said guide means portions comprising rotatable pulleys having pintle bearings, and means for clamping said pintles in different positions lengthwise of said slot.

9. In a thread throwing machine having a thread feeding means drive shaft, a drive gear thereon, and clamp incorporating supporting rails for said shaft, the combination of a shaft protecting shield having a flange portion engaged between said clamps and rails, said shield providing a forwardly extending tongue providing a gear receiving opening in said shield, a thread feeding means having a driven thread feeding member adapted for engagement with said shaft gear, and the front of said stand providing a depending skirt engaged by said tongue, whereby said shaft gear will be covered when the stand is moved to break the driving connection between said thread feeding member and shaft gear.

10. In a thread throwing machine having a thread feeding means drive shaft, a drive gear thereon, and clamp incorporating supporting rails for said shaft, the combination of a shaft protecting shield having a flange portion engaged between said clamps and rails;

11. In a thread throwing machine the combination of a stop rod carried thread carrying feed means comprising a stand, said stand providing a gear housing, a feed wheel at one side of said gear housing, a bracket arm extending upwardly and rearwardly beyond the plane of said stand and having laterally extending bearing means attachable to said stop rod laterally of said gear housing whereby to admit of location of the stand in close proximity to said rod without contactin same. g

12. In a thread throwing machine the combination of a stop rod carried thread carrying feed means comprising a stand, said standproviding a gear housing, a feed wheel at one side of said gear housing, a bracket arm extending upwardly and rearwardly beyond the plane of said stand and having laterally extending bearing means attachable to said stop rod laterally of said gear comprising spaced thread direction changing elements carried by said bracket arm.

JOHN C. HOUCK. 

